I am a married non-eu postdoc and I arrived in CH in July 2010 (I have student B permit). My wife (also non-eu) started her studies in Switzerland October 2010. We married two years ago, so she changed from student permit to my dependent permit. My contract (and at the same time our permit) will finish in 6 months, but she needs still 1 more year to finish her master. I am looking for a job but it not very likely I can find one (already applied for 200 positions in the past 3 years).
The other complication is that as non-eu her study duration is also limited to 8 years (will be finished in September 2018)
1. Do you think the authorities will give my wife a student permit (and as a result a dependent permit to me) provided that we show sufficient bank account and her certificate of university enrollement?
2. Can I still claim unemployment benefits in this case? Even if they agree with our permit it will take a few months, So I might not have any permit when I become unemployed. what will happen in this case? will they register me but will hold the payment until I receive a valid permit?

Bumping this for our permit experts.

Tricky. I don't think your wife can go back to a student permit easily, since she's studying under family reunification. Which means, if that's the case, her permit will end when yours does. And if she's been studying here for 8 years regardless of the permit type the permit won't be extended for study purposes.

Whether you can stay and claim unemployment in the hopes of finding a job only the cantonal migration office and RAV can tell you.

Since they've both been here since 2010, what about applying for an early C-permit now, assuming they meet the integration and language requirements? Just an idea, not sure how well or if it would work.

Me neither since I'm not that au fait with VINTA. Employment about to end might be the sticking point, but I honestly don't know. Hopefully other members with more knowledge of that permit process can provide more info/advice.

Thanks, I am non-EU and I don't think we can apply for a C permit because I have a student B permit, not a real work permit. As far as I know the prerequisite for C permit is holding a Work B permit.

It will be a total disaster for my wife. She has studied for 5 years and only one more semester is left. Are they so tough that they will deprive her of obtaining her degree by not renewing the permit just for a few months?

Maybe you are lucky but the rules are pretty clear, 8 years.

Can she get some supporting letter from the university?

You can try and see if they'd extend it. But again, her permit is dependent on yours and if you don't have one, neither does she. As said best to talk to the cantonal migration office and RAV regarding your situations. Any supporting documentation from the uni certainly won't hurt if they're willing to provide this for her.

Some comments:
1. Post-doc: this is a job and you should normally be eligible for RAV/ ORP unemployment compensation when the contract ends.
- To avoid penalty days, you will need to demonstrate that you have been applying for 10-12 jobs per month for the three months prior to registering for RAV/ ORP.

2. Extension of your B permit: Ct. Zug website states that, although there is no legal requirement to do so, non-EU B permits will normally be extended until the end of the unemployment compensation period.
- If you are eligible to receive 260 work-days of unemployment compensation, this would extend your permit by one calendar year (260 work-days x 7/5 = 364 calendar days).
- If you are eligible to receive 400 work-days of unemployment compensation, this would extend your permit by approx. 18.4 months.

https://www.zg.ch/behoerden/sicherhe...ltsbewilligung

3. BNF: as a highly-skilled person, you could be eligible to work on a project through BNF. Normally you would be placed in contact with BNF through RAV/ ORP. More information on BNF is at this link:

https://sv-postdoc.epfl.ch/page-114647-en.html

Good luck to you!

Thanks. However, I am sure they will NOT extend the permit because of eligibility to receive unemployment benefits. I have seen two of my colleagues with the similar situation in Geneva and Vaud. Renewal request was rejected beyond the contract date for both cases and they returned to their countries. The only possiblity I see (however it is not very probable) is through my wife's studying.

Response:
1. RAV unemployment compensation is decentralized and the rules may vary from canton to canton.
- Just because Ct. Zug allows an extension does not mean that another canton would.
2. Are you a post-doc, receiving a salary with normal social charges deductions, including AC = assurance chômage, or are you a doctoral student?
- Normally if you were employed you would be eligible to receive unemployment compensation.
- ch.ch, Swiss authorities online, states that short-stay permit holders (L) are allowed six months to find a position if they lose their job:

"If you hold a valid short stay permit you may remain in Switzerland for up to six more months. This will give you time to find another job. However, you will need to obtain authorisation from the cantonal immigration or labour market authorities."

https://www.ch.ch/en/foreign-nationa...d-switzerland/

He said he has a student B, wife has a dependent B.

2. Yes, I am a postdoc (for 3 years) and I receive full-salary with normal social charges deductions, including AC = assurance chômage.

This is my experience after being phd student (5yrs) and postdoc (3yrs) and I am quiet sure about it (for non-EU and at least in GE and VD):

After finishing your phd you have 6 months on a L-permit to look for a job and you can receive unemployment benefits. However, after Postdoc you need to quite Switzerland IMMIDIATELY and the permit will not be extended.

The issue in my case is permit renewal not eligibility for unemployment benefits. If I have a valid permit I can easily claim unemployment benefits.
And I don't know if they will extend our permit because of my wife still studying.

I think that postdoc contracts are not classified as employment in the canton of Zurich, but rather like an extended training.

The only difference is that if the postdoc is from the EU, then they are entitled to RAV due to the bilateral agreements. Non-EU are not entitled to apply for a C-permit (must have a permanent contract) and also not entitled to the RAV.

Relevant law regarding C-permit for canton zurich can be found here

https://ma.zh.ch/internet/sicherheit...lligung_IW.pdf

The links for Zurich and Zug are nice, but as OP is based on Lausanne does anyone have a relevant link to Vaud? I don't read French so I'm not much help to find the right page.

Dear Medea,
I got very worried when you told she can not go back to student permit. However today I went to immigration office of Geneva. They told me it is possible for her to go back to student permit and I can be in family reunion with her but since we will not have any salary, we need to show a bank account (48 K for two persons for one year). I asked even two different officers and they told the same thing. To me also it is logical and fair that she should be able to continue her education.

Yes -- further evidence (if any were needed) that it's always best to ask the experts (in this case, the government officials responsible for enacting government legislation in the specific area in question) rather than a bunch of random, faceless people whom you don't know on the internet.

Anyway, I'm glad that it looks like your issue is resolved.

I'm surprised to hear that since we've had reports here on the forum before that a dependent permit holder can't then become the main permit holder when the main loses their employment, even though the dependent is also working. May be a canton interpreting the rules differently of course and the fact she's a student as opposed to being employed.

What did they say about her 8 year maximum though? Were they okay about extending it for a few months?